[Terrapreta] Charcoal and Other Carbon and Nutrient Sources

[Richard Haard]

Some background on this plant Tithonia diversifolia - (tree marigold)  
is introduced but not native in Florida.

www.worldagroforestrycentre.org/ eca/downloads/Jama_et_al_2000.pdf
This reference is a review of this species as green manure for soil  
fertility. For farmers in tropical climate this plant restores soil  
fertility with effects sometimes superior to commercial fertilizer.  
The application would be to use this plant as boundary hedges to  
fields and coppice for fertility supplement. It readily decomposes and  
represents a redistribution of nutrients rather than a renewable one.  
As its harvest and application to land is labor intensive it is  
reserved for high value crops and its use is a good way to transfer  
soil fertility from areas not suitable for cultivation.


On Apr 1, 2008, at 5:44 PM, Tom Miles wrote:
> The composting discussion raises the question of whether we should  
> think more broadly about how combinations of biochar plus other  
> techniques could work best to improve soil fertility depending on  
> the circumstances.
>
> I note that Joseph Kimetu has been comparing the use of biochar with  
> organic nutrient and carbon sources like Tithonia diversifolia in  
> tropical Africa.   He gave a seminar last week at Cornell on:  
> Restoration of soil organic matter in smallholder farming systems of  
> Western Kenya.
>
> See:
>
> http://a-c-s.confex.com/a-c-s/2007am/techprogram/P34909.HTM
> Tuesday, November 6, 2007
> Reversal of Productivity Decline in Agroecosystems with Organic  
> Amendments of Different Stability.
> Joseph Kimetu1, Johannes Lehmann1, Janice Thies1, Alice Pell2,  
> Daniel N. Mugendi3, Andre Bationo4, and James M. Kinyangi1. (1) Crop  
> and Soil Sciences, Cornell University, 1022 Bradfield, Ithaca, NY  
> 14850, (2) Animal Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY 14853, (3)  
> School of Environmental Studies and Human Sciences, Kenyatta  
> University, P.O Box 43844-00100, Nairobi, Kenya, (4) African Network  
> for Soil Biology and Fertility (AfNet), Tropical Soil Biology and  
> Fertility Institute of CIAT, P.O Box 30677-00100, Nairobi, Kenya
>
> In tropical agroecosystems, productivity declines associated with  
> soil organic matter (SOM) degradation can be reversed through the  
> application of organic inputs of diverse quality which also increase  
> crop fertilizer use efficiency. To soils that had been under  
> continuous cultivation for 4, 10, 30, and 100 years, four organic  
> matter sources; Tithonia diversifolia, Hemsley A. Gray, cattle  
> manure, wood charcoal and fine sawdust were incorporated at the rate  
> of 6 tons C ha-1, for 3 seasons over a 2-year period. Full  
> fertilizer N, P and K rates (120, 100, 100 kg ha-1 respectively)  
> were superimposed to the organic treatment plots. For soil with a  
> long-term 100-year cultivation history, the addition of N, P and K  
> yielded a maximum of 3.0 t ha-1 of maize grain which more than  
> doubled with the addition of Tithonia (6.7t ha-1 and 8.0t ha-1 in  
> the first and second year respectively). For Tithonia, an increase  
> of 2.0 ± 0.6 t ha-1 above the fertilized, no biomass treatment was  
> observed in soil with medium cultivation history (20 yrs). In both  
> years, application of manure increased maize grain yield by a  
> similar 2.0 ± 0.3 t ha-1. No immediate changes to maize yield were  
> noted with application of highly recalcitrant OM (charcoal and saw  
> dust) but in the second year charcoal and sawdust addition yielded  
> 2.9 t ha-1 and 1.7 t ha-1 respectively higher than control. Nutrient  
> uptake by maize crop was significantly improved with the application  
> of Tithonia and charcoal OM. Almost 30% increase in base saturation  
> (%) of the soil was observed with the application of manure. Soil  
> pH, potential CEC and effective CEC were also improved with the use  
> of OM inputs. We show that improved SOM, especially in degraded  
> soil, are an integral part of reversing soil productivity declines  
> in tropical agroecosystems.
>
> Kimetu, J.,  J. Lehmann, A. Pell and J. Thies. 2007. Carbon  
> sequestration and mitigation of carbon accumulation in the  
> biosphere: the role of biochar in tropical agricultural systems.  
> 2007 International AgriChar Initiative Conference. Terrigal, New  
> South Wales, Australia. April 29-May 2, 2007.
>
> Advances in Integrated Soil Fertility Management in sub-Saharan  
> Africa Challenges and Opportunities
> Edited by A Bationo, B Waswa, J Kihara and J Kimetu 1000 pages  
> Springer-Verlag
>
> Soil organic carbon dynamics, functions and management in West  
> African agro-ecosystems.
> http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.agsy.2005.08.011
>
>
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